


The Jungle

by Zighana



Series: The Jungle [1]
Category: Claws (TV)
Genre: Backstory Relationships, F/M, Interracial relationships, Original Female Characters of Color - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 14:18:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11853336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zighana/pseuds/Zighana
Summary: Roller had always learned that romance is a jungle, and he's had his share of interacting with the lethal and beautiful creatures that've caught his eye.





	The Jungle

**Author's Note:**

> This story is broken up into 6 sections (Intro, The Journey, Bambi, Jaguar, Lioness, and Conclusion), 3 completely different stories that intersect and take place in years: Bambi is Roller's past relationship when he was a young adult (in 2004) that lasted till 2009. Jaguar takes place after Bambi in December of 2009 to 2014. Lioness, the most recent one, takes place from the late spring of 2016 to the summer of 2017. Roller, in this fic, is 32 (Born in 1985). He was 19 when he dated Bambi, 25-26 when he dated Jaguar, and 31-32 when he dated Desna.
> 
> The first section is the overall story of what takes place after "Avalanche" as it follows Roller going on a path of redemption and righting his wrongs with Desna, Delilah, and Felina, while navigating his tumultuous alliance with Dr. Ruval, his crumbling relationship with Bryce, regaining his respect and trust from Uncle Daddy, and sorting out his love/hate feelings for Desna. 
> 
> The last section is the conclusion, where Roller figures out where to go from his low point and begins the painful journey of being a better man for his mates in the future.
> 
> I recommend after reading this chapter you jump right into Bambi. The flow is going to be a little confusing, so I broke it down into what it's supposed to be like. It'll be like this:
> 
> 1\. Intro  
> 2\. Bambi  
> 3\. The Journey I  
> 4.The Journey II  
> 5\. Jaguar  
> 6\. The Journey III  
> 7\. Lioness  
> 8\. Conclusion.  
> This is unfinished, so I apologize in advance for not completing all of it but it is a Work in Progress. Bear with me.
> 
> I know this is a long ass note but thank you for taking the time to read it and I hope you enjoy. :)

“Baby boy,” Uncle Daddy exhales, smacking his lips. Roller, a freshman in high school, looks up at him. 

“You’re getting to that age where you’re going to find girls cute, you’re going to want to date them, fuck them, hell, even marry them. But one thing you need to know is,”

He leans in close to Roller. 

“Love is like a jungle. Wild, dangerous, it pulls you in and never lets you go. There are lions, tigers, cheetahs, creatures that’ll tear you limb from limb if you not careful. They’ll eat you alive, but goddamn are they some beautiful creatures.” His eyes wander over to Juanda, his wife, with a glimmering smile.

Roller thought about Uncle Daddy’s words, not really understanding. He assumes he’s being an old drunk and nods his head to his words anyway. It’ll come to him in time, perhaps.

He’s a man, now. 32 with several encounters with the animals of dating. He, a spectator and participant of the jungle, have become acquainted with the various animals that grace his path.

His first encounter, Delilah, or Bambi, a kind-hearted and giving deer that’s love has gone sour. His second, Felina, a predatory jaguar he couldn’t tell if she liked him or was sizing him up as prey. Finally, Desna, the lioness that left him with several scars, yet he always wants more. Ghosts of those encounters haunt him, even as he lie in his new humble beginnings: a trailer park on the outskirts of town, a punishment from Uncle Daddy for his sins that’ve landed everyone in deep shit.

He tosses and turns in his uncomfortable cot, memories of those demons cycling through his mind.

“Enough of your lies, Roller! You don’t love me. You’ve never loved me! The only things you love are yourself and that…fucked up family of yours!” Delilah shouts at him, tears in her eyes as she chucks the photo of their once happy relationship at his head. 

“The thing about you and I, Roller, is that we’re incapable of love. We use and abuse whoever comes our way, swallow them whole, and spit out the bones,” Felina says, her sharp nails digging into his throat.

“I’ll finish you, baby. I’ll finish you,” Desna says, an edge to her voice, before she slices him with the threader and cracks him against the head with the ashtray.

“Go…Go away…Stop…Fuck!” He opens his eyes, drenched with sweat. He eyes his alarm clock. 3:04 AM. 6 hours before he meets with Uncle Daddy regarding his new alliance with the Haitians.

The Haitians. Roller smirks. Dr. Feel Good is the head of them. Desna went from one drug dealer to another. He wonders if that’s strictly her type.

Desna…

He won’t think about her. Their relationship is officially over; he’s fucked up too many times. It’s one thing to fuck Virginia, it’s another to get a 15-year-old girl pregnant behind Desna’s back. If he could go back in time to tell his drunk and horny self to not fuck that girl, or at least wrap it up, he would. He would’ve even called Bryce and asked to crash at his place and work on their strained relationship while the kids slept. 

He would’ve been a better man to Desna. He would’ve turned down Virginia and spent the rest of his days doing anything and everything to make it work for her. 

After all that’s happened, he still loves Desna. He believes he will always love Desna.

“Love,” Delilah sneers from the shadows. She graces his presence, naked, in the form that he’d always remembered her: 18, with dark brown and white freckles and black hair that’s fans out into a curly mess with bangs to shield those hazel eyes from him. Her ears seemed to have morphed to the top of her head, antlers extending from her curly mop.

“You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

“I loved you, Bambi. You gotta believe me. I loved you.” His hand caresses her cheek, and she leans into his touch.

“I really wish that were true.” She smiles a sad smile. Her eyes meet his and it sends shivers down his spine. Those hazel eyes seem to glow with malice.

“But you always lie.”

She slams him against the walls of his room, her antlers pinning him there.

“Roller Husser loves no one but himself. That was a lesson you were more than happy to teach me, my love.” 

“Bambi, baby, please. I loved you. You have to believe me, I loved you. I’m…I’m sorry, baby.” His throat tightens.

“I’m so, so sorry, baby. Please, baby. Please.” Tears fall down his eyes. 

“I fucked up, I know I did. But please, just for tonight, let’s go back to the way things were.”

The antlers retract.

“Let’s pretend we’re in love, just like before. We were happy together, you and I living in that shitty apartment with our dog.” He swallows thickly.

“I think about that all the time.”

Her naked body is replaced with a red baggy sweater that hangs off one shoulder, acid-washed jeans, and those red Converse she used to wear. Those thick-framed glasses almost covered half her face as she smiles a toothy smile at him. He walks over to her, wrapping her fingers around his waist.

“I think about all the good times we’ve had, what could’ve been.” He says in her hair. He rocks into a slow dance, his trailer park dissolving into their old apartment. The television they’d bought from the thrift store plays old horror films, the kitchen a mess from the last time Roller had tried to cook for Delilah. Their dog naps happily on their couch as he waltzes with her through their kitchen. 

“These moments were some of the happiest ones in my life.” He looks into her eyes.

“We were happy together. We were good together.” 

“Were, Roller. Past tense.” Delilah parts from him. The room seems to halt, the light dimming to a dreary gray. 

“Kiss me. Just one more time, before you go.” Roller pulls her closer once more.

“One last kiss.”

Delilah smirks, leans in to his cheek, her lips gracing her ear.

“No.”

Roller wakes up in a cold sweat, hastily wiping away the sleep from his eyes. He checks his clock. 5:01 AM. Shit.

No point in going back to sleep.

Turning on his light, he digs through his box from the top shelf and pulls out a CD labeled: Roller + Bambi 4 Eva. He chuckles at the corniness. He pops open the DVD player, slides in the disk, and presses play.

It picks up where he last left off: he and Bambi, light years younger and naïve, hanging at the mall together. Him, scrawny and proud to rock a goatee and baggy beanie combo, sitting on the back of the chair licking the air between his two fingers.

“You’re so gross, babe!” her voice grimaces behind the camera.

“You love it, don’t lie.” He smirks.

Roller chuckles at his younger self, reminiscing of a much simpler time. 

“Anything you wanna say to your loyal fans at home?” the camera zooms in on Roller.

“Yeah, um, my new album is coming out, soon. I’ll be touring in New Zealand in October, and ladies, sorry,” he grabs the camera and zooms in on Delilah.

“I’m taken. This is my girl, and we ain’t never breaking up. Never ever! Ain’t that right, babe?”

Delilah laughs, her braces showing off the pink and green brackets that match her outfit.

“Never ever. Delilah and Roller forever, from 2004 to infinity!” she announces through giggles, holding up her shake. Roller gets into the camera’s view and kisses Delilah on the cheek.

“You heard it here. Together, forever.”  
They show off the Ring Pops they bought from the candy machine: Roller red and Delilah green. She pops her Ring Pop in Roller’s mouth and he does the same to her. They share a kiss, laugh, and Roller does a peace sign before saying, “The Hussers are out! Peace!”

The screen cuts to blue.

Roller’s finger hovers over the play button, debating on whether or not he should start getting ready for work. The DVD is at least 3 hours long.

He hits Play.


End file.
